Apparatus for dispersing gases in liquids



P 1948- R. E. GUNTHER 2,448,590

APPARATUS FOR DISPERSING GASES IN LIQUIDS Filed Oct. l8, 1946 INVENTOR.

EEIiEJ'Ld EL ELFI'L ChE I ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 7, 1948 ABRAHAM-Issue msneesmae-Asus mmocms e V RhiandiE: Gunther; Uceansldiw N. Application QetobewlS, 1948151217111 .-N .0 704,236t

This invention relates ods for efiecting gasand liquid contact, amimore particularly to apparatus ion dispersing gesesin. liquids, employing'porousmediasubmerged mine. liquids.

In attempting to create .finedispersions .ot gases.

in liquids, by forcing; thegases through porous. media submergedzin.thew-liquids; ttlhasheen dis,

covered. that the gases as they. emergefirom the.

porous media encounter. resistance. to; their. progress away from..the. media-due.to..=-the cosity or/and internal .i-rieti-on of the sand.,.

consequently, -remain-alt1 the exits. momentarily:

.to iaipparatus. amimedia, wherein. the. emerging easesare swept 29 away from the. exitsnof. the media. .in.streamsofs minute bubbles. I

Other obj ects and advantages ofltheinvention will beapparent. during. rtheiollowing detailed.

description of. theinvenition, taken .inoonneotion. with the. accompanying. drawing and; in whiclr' drawing- Figure 1 .is an elevation ot themoveianparatus.

Figure2 is avertic-al section throughtheporous Figure 5 is a plan viewofi the innerdaceeof the;

lowermost section of the portiontofLEigurefis. V

Figure 6 is a vertical section throimh vin support forming the upperpar-t of thenovelapparatus;

In the drawing, wherein for the; purpose.

of illustration is shown a. preferred, QinbOdis" ment of the invention andiwhereinlsmiilarsreferrence characters designate. corresponding throughout the several views, thenovel.

ratus is designated as. A; and. .n porous; media.

as B.

The. novel. apparatus A is. shown to (includes. support I0, a gas-carrying conduit l lextendinat thereto, a shaft I 2 journaled in the support -I0, means I3 to rotate the-shattlll, andtmeens-i M to rotatably support the. porous. media..B.. and. effect rapid. separation. of, minute. Gas bimbles. formed at the, outer. surface; or, the porousv media-B.

Any suitable support may Ice-provided. Int-the,

. 2. thesuIpDOrtIlh-is a hollow couplingmemberr-I! havihganihteriorly screw threaded; gas intake mouth .portion. I 6? leading. toiagohamber IT and fi'0m;w1iieh ,.cliamber leads .a gas exit portion I'B which-may, he. exteriorly: screw threaded; Sim.-

porting 1a,. bl'aIlf lliearing race I 9 within. the exit'pcrtion I8"=may be a. cap portion ZOhaving an, upwardly-extending circular. flange 21. providedl witl'i screw. \threads .andga. horizQntaIIyedis-r nosed; centrally-perforated.disc-like. portion 22 from: whiohthefiange. 2'I-extends,' The screw threadsoi the fiangeirare constructed a1?- rangewtoncooperate with, thosev of the: gas. exi v portiom,

(iouuleditothe intakemouth poution lflstlie g as-earryinevconduitj I I which extends tothe'ggs supp x (not-shown)...

Theshiaftj. I2 is hollowwpen at both end-3,.and mayrhaiveia .fliange 23' atits. upper end-disposed andlsuitably secured. to. the. inner. section ofi'thebaltraeei 8... It. depends .fromithesupnort andjlmay, besorew threaded at its lower endjfor cooperatiommth screw threads .of the means- M to be described;

E01 irotatingthe shaft; the means. I3 1neludeany slut-able. device, sue-hi as, an electric motor Nitotlie shafit'of which issecured a gear wheelilti, the teeth. offiwhich. mesh ,with. the teeth offagear wheel 26; extending aboutlendjsecured .toethess-haft I2.. A suitable bracketlflmay be Hmvidfigseeuringthe motor 24 tothesuppont; [.01 The vmeans.Mishown; pairtioularly. in FIeures Z tQEincIusLVeincIudes SLhOUSiIlg 2.8;-shotvu.pa.rtice many in Figures Zitand 4; deflning a comment..-

mentL-a gas inlet ormcuthZBiandf-agMsxitiflf 'Iflrezhousing may. comprise a disc like, portion and 'jaisltirtiportion .132. withithe disc-like. portion 31 iprovidd with the gesinletLZQ from the. edie of; which inlet projects: an. upwardly-extending flange .33iand"this may, be screw threadewtol re, ceivewa screw threaded .ooupling .memtier. 34. for connection with the screw'threadedl lower; end of the shaftLIZL Extending through thediscelike portion. 31 may; be. a. suitebleinumberl of; screw sliankereceiving openingsji fore nurposeito be described;

Qarriedgby, thee-housing. 21 I011. rotationby. the. shaft. I2, as the. latten. rotates. the. housins is impeller. means. which also. functions,-. inn. capacity, to. support the. porous media. 13..

The. impeller mean-s. shown more. particularly, inEigures 2'; andfiiincludes. aninvertedidomee like. portion 35,: impellers blades portionsai-I car.

ried therebyv'and. a. second inverted-dome likepor-r examples-known, particularly, in Eigureslafldifi; 55..tion..38,,-,carried..by the blade portionsllh Referring to Figures 2 and 5, it will be seen that the first inverted dome-like portion 36 has a shallow skirt section 39 extending upwardly from the periphery of a central section 40 and with its outer face convex. In fact this section 39 should be only deep enough to prevent sideway movement of a suitable gasket 4| and permit the gasket to extend slightly upwardly beyond the horizontal plane of the upper edge of the skirt section 39. The central section 43 of the dome-like portion 36 has, of course, a curved lower face adjacent its rim, as in Figure 2, and is provided with a downwardly extending, axiallydisposed boss 42 for supporting the inner ends of the blade portions 31. Extending through the ings 43 for receiving the shanksof cap screws 44 which also extend through the openings 35;;

in the disc-like portion 3 I, with their heads bearing, against the upper face of the portion 3|.

may be seen in Figure 3, there is provided a plurality of impeller blade portions 31, extend ing outwardly from the boss 42 and downwardly from the lower face of the dome-like portion 36. Theirfree outer edges are substantially vertical and extend downwardly from the skirt section Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the second inverted dome-like portion 38 is quite dished or bowled, has an outwardly-extending, narrow, peripheral flange 45 and a large central opening 46. Preferably, this opening 46 has a diameter of a length substantially one-half that of the portion 38. The outer edge of the flange 45 is preferably, in substantially the same vertical plane as that of the outer face of the skirt portion 32. Portions of the lower edges of the impeller blades 31 extend to and are suitably secured to the second inve'rted dome-like portion 38, whereby the portions 3|, 32' and 38, together with the blades 3'l'r'otate as a unit. The remaining portions of the lower edges 4'! of the blades 31 extend across the central opening 46 from the boss 42.

I The porous media B may be any suitable material (adapted, when compacted,-to form minute passageways), compacted into a cake or body 50 of ring-shape having substantially flat upper and lower faces 5| and 52 respectively, an outer periphery 53 and a central opening 54. Thisjcake 50 is disposed upon the impeller means structure and housed snugly within the housing ZBjsubstantially as shown in Figure 2. So disposed, the outer section of the lower face of the cake 5B faces, but 'is spaced from, the upper edge of the skirt section 39, extends beyond the outer edges oftheblades 3'! and has the remainder of its lower face in tight contact with the gasket40, so that there is a portion of the cake 50 extending outwardly of the vertical plane of the periphery of the gasket 46.

With the cake 53 in place and the cap screws tightened, it is clear, from Figure 2, that gases flowing downwardly through the hollow shaft I2 will enter the compartment defined by the inner face of the ring-shaped cake 50, parts of the upper face of the dome-likeportion 31, and lower face of the disc-like portion 3!, andinner face of the gasket 46. The gases can emerge only'after passingthrough the porous media B and'exit from the exposed lower face-52 of the cake 50. As the gases exit theygwill form minute bubbles. Before the bubbles can become larger they will be detached and swept from this exposed lower face 52 by the current created by 4 the rotating impeller blades 31 in the liquid in which the means I4 is immersed.

Of course, the relatively large opening 46 causes a considerable volume of liquid to rush therethrough, in the wake of the rotating impeller blades. This liquid is forced against the arcuate upper face of the second dome-like portion 36 and arcuate lower face of the first domelike portion 36 and emerges with considerable force from the narrow opening formed by the flanges 45 and lower edge of the skirt portion 32 drawing the bubbles of gas along and outwardly of the means M, for dispersement in the liquid.

In addition to the positive detachment of the gas bubbles, effected as stated, there is provided an eiiicient supplemental detachment resulting from the rotation of the cake 50 itself since the bubbles will be brushed from the rotating cake by the liquid body.

In Figure 3 the motion of the liquid with respect to the means l4 as a whole is shown by the arrows marked B. The liquid, therefore, moves radially away from the means [4 and tends to carry away therefrom any gases emerging from the openings in the porous cake 56. In additionto this positive radial movement, is that caused by the rotation of the cake itself and this is also one between the liquid and exits of the gas from the cake 50. This latter movement is indicated by the arrow marked C, extending non-radially with respect to the axis of rotation of the means I 4. The magnitude of this latter movement can be made very great with little consumption of power. The resultant relative movement caused by the motions described and indicated is indicated by the arrow D, and this is also great. By virtue of the Bernouille principle, the pressure at the liquid contact surface of the porous cake 5!] is substantially lower than in the remainder of the liquid and also because of the high relative velocity between the porous piece and the liquid at that point.

It is now obvious that the gas may be forced through a porous media cake or body while the latter is, being rotated and in contact with a liquid, with the gas taking a generally downward course, to exit from the uncovered lower end of the cake to form fine bubbles, which are then quickly and continuously swept or forced away from the cake by the liquid, under forced upward and outward flow, impelled by impeller blades, so that larger-sized bubbles donot form.

Various changes may be made to the form of the invention herein shown and described without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or scope of the claims.

' What is claimed is: i

-l. In gas and liquid contact apparatus, a housing-defining a compartment, a gas inlet thereto and a downwardly-opening gas outlet therefrom; a cake of porous media within said compartment; and impeller means closing a part of said outlet and providing a support for said cake, including aninverted dome-like portion directly below said cake, being of less diameter than those of said gas outlet and said cake, and impeller blades carried by said portion.

2. In-gas and liquid contact apparatus, a housing defining a compartment, a gas inlet thereto and a downwardly-opening gas outlet therefrom; a cake of porous media'within said compartment; and impeller means closing a part of said outlet and providing a support for said cake, including an inverted dome-like portion directly below said cake, being of less diameter than those of said gas outlet and said cake, and impeller blade below and carried by said portion.

3. In gas and liquid contact apparatus, a housing defining a compartment, a gas inlet thereto and a downwardly-opening gas outlet therefrom; a cake of porous media within said compartment; and impeller means closing a part of said outlet and providing a support for said cake, including an inverted dome-like portion directly below said jcake, being of less diameter than those of said gas outlet and said cake, a. second inverted dome-like portion below and spaced from said first portion and provided with a central opening, and impeller blades carried by said portions in the space between them.

4. In gas and liquid contact apparatus, a housing comprising a, disc portion and a depending skirt portion, having a lower edge, said disc portion having a gas inlet and the lower end of said skirt portion providing a gas outlet; a cake of porous media within said housing in snug-fitting relationship with the portions thereof and extending to the horizontal plane of said edge; and im peller means closing a part of said outlet and providing a support for said cake, including a first in- 20 Number REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Heuser July 1, 1919 Manley Jan. 30, 1934 Meeker May 10, 1938 Moores Mar. 19, 19 0 Booth July 4, 1944 

